Clothes-washer



' To all whom it may concern:

4 UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICEO sAMrsoN REA, E URBANA, ILLINOIS.

CLOTH ES-WASHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,930, dated July 2e, 1881.

' Application tiled October 22, 1880. (No model.)

Be it known that I, SAMPSON REA, ot' Urbana, Champaign county, State of Illinois,

have invented certain new and useful Improve-Y ments iu Clothes-.Washers; and I hereby declare the same to be fully, clearly, and exactly described as follows, reference being had to theraccompanyng drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of the device elnbodying my invention, partly shown in sectional view. Fig-2 is a bottom plan of the device 5 and Fig. 3 is a sectional view, showing the junction ofthe two parts of the handle.

My invention relates to that class of washing-machines known as elotlles-pounders, and to that subdivision of the same in which a piston iscaused to reciprocate within a cylinder, forcing and drawing the water and suds Y through the clothes,4 and thereby cleansing them.

My present invention consists in certain improvements uponthat for which Letters Patent were granted me December 30, 1879; and it consists in certain features of construction as set forth in the claims.

Referring briey to the features of the pres ent machine, which it has in common with the patented device above referred to, and which `therefore need no detailed description here, A

is the cylinder, provided with a bell-shaped flange, A', to prevent splashing of the suds in the rapid descent of the piston, and to inclose a lbody of air, which constitutes a yielding cushion when the device is pressed down upon the clothes 5 and a a are the lower and upper gratings, having arms a a". B is t bellshaped cap secured to the grating a', designed to shed back the water` and suds which would be thrown out by a rapid or sudden rising of the piston, and which would otherwise be .splashed and squirted over the hands and clothing of the operator. D' is the shaft secured to the piston and having a terminal handle, G, and spring b. These features are all shown and fully described in my patent above named.

`The points of difference between the patented device and that forming the subject of my presentinvention relate to certain features which will be hereinafter set forth.

The shaft D is made in two parts, secured Vtogether by a pin or catch, d, and the lower half is attached to the'piston by means of a screw, f, passing through a plate or washer, F, the screw being readily driven or removed,

when it is desired to take the device apart, by means of a screw-driver inserted through the center hole of the lower grating. The lower part of the shaft D' is incased in a suitable sheath, D, which plays through the sleeve D, and around which the spring is coiled, the effeet of which is to prevent the binding of the spring on the shaft and lessen the friction of its play. A collar, E, secured on the sheath D by lneansof a thumb-screw, e, serves to reg-4 ulate the tension of the spring.

In devices of this class having only a terminal handle to depress the piston the labor of using the device soon becomes very irksome, as the leverage is wholly at the shoulder. The lateral handle H, being lower down on the shaft, enables one to work from the elbow, so to speak, and thus relieve the muscles as they become tired. rlhis feature, however, per se, is not new. The sleeve I, which embraces the shaft D', is connected with a rod which passes through the handle H and is secured by anut on the threaded end t'. 'As the nut is turned the collar H is jammed against the shaft, securing the handle.

In operation, the handle H being adjusted to the desired height, the clothes are thrown into the tub with suiicient water and soap, and, the cylinder being pressed down upon the clothes until it is immersed to the top,the piston is depressed, forcing the water downward through the clothes. Upon lifting the hands the spring causes the pistou to rise, and the water of course follows it, and the cylinder is filled. v

1. In combination with the cylinder, cap, and piston, the two-part handle having metallic sheath and the adjustable spring Zi, as set forth.

`2. In combination with the cylinder and piston, the handle D,havingsheath D, the washer F, and screw f, as set forth.

3.V In combination with the cylinder and piston having cap B, the separable two-part shaft having a metallic sheath, and the springe, having its bearings upon the cap and adjustable collar E, the parts being constructed and operating substantially' as and for the purpose set forth.

SAMPSON REA. Witness-es: v

H. P. HARMAN, J. H. PEILLIPs.

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